Apr 17, 2018

I am loving this strawberry swirl no-knead brioche bread. It's just slightly sweet and slightly buttery, and very soft and airy. To make it even tastier, it is filled with a swirl of homemade strawberry lime jam.

This strawberry swirl bread is actually pretty easy to make, as long as you are comfortable with very sticky dough. It's very similar to working with a sticky ciabatta dough, except that this dough is enriched with some sugar, butter, and milk, resulting in a very tender bread.
Because it's strawberry season, and all of the roadside stands selling fresh strawberries are set up in every available vacant lot, I filled this bread with a homemade strawberry lime jam (I love strawberry season). However, you can make this brioche any time of year, using any jam or preserves you like.

To make the dough, you just mix the ingredients in a bowl, mix with a dough whisk or spoon, and let it rise for about two hours, until doubled.

To assemble the bread, you divide the dough in half, stretch it out over oiled parchment, and spread it with your jam or preserves. Next you roll each into a log, and then twist the two logs around each other into a spiral.

Precision is not necessary when working with this super wet dough.

This month, the Fantastical Food Fight is all about strawberry shortcake. I was going to make a traditional strawberry shortcake, and then I took a left turn and went with brioche filled with strawberries. Wouldn't you?

How is this bread related to strawberry shortcake?

It contains fresh strawberries

It contains cream (in the milk)

And it contains flour and a bit of sugar, like a biscuit.

Actually, this bread is amazing prepared as French toast and layered with whipped cream and strawberries.. strawberry shortcake French toast! It's also fabulous with peanut butter.

After the recipe, be sure to check out the rest of the strawberry shortcake themed recipes from the rest of the Fantastical Food Fight Participants.

instructions:

Strawberry Lime Jam

Put the strawberry slices in a large bowl, and mix with all of the sugar. Continue stirring and tossing until the sugar turns into a syrup, transfer the mixture to a fine mesh strainer, and place it over a large saucepan for at least an hour to drain.

Set the strawberries aside, and bring the syrup drained from them to a simmer over medium high heat. Cook for about five minutes. Add the strawberries to the mixture, bring to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and mash the strawberries with a potato masher. If you'd like a smoother mixture, blend with an immersion blender.

Stir in the lime zest and lime juice, and let the mixture cool. Transfer the jam to a glass jar and keep refrigerated.

Strawberry Swirl No-Knead Brioche

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast together. In another large bowl or 4 cup measuring cup, mix the butter, water, and milk. Whisk in the egg. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir them together with a dough whisk, a wooden spoon, or your hand. Cover and let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled.

Deflate the dough by using a dough scraper to fold the dough over itself in the bowl several times. Divide the dough in half, and place each half on an oiled piece of parchment paper. Shape each piece into a ball and let rest, lightly covered with oiled plastic wrap, for 20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F with a rack in the middle, and oil a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan.

Stretch each dough ball into a 8 inch by 11 inch rectangle on the oiled parchment paper. Spread each with half of the strawberry jam. Roll each dough piece, width-wise (starting with one of the 8 inch sides), tightly into a log. The log will lengthen as you roll it.

Lay one rolled dough piece over the other into an "X." Twist the dough into a coil/spiral on each side. You should end up with two pieces of dough twisted around each other.

At this point, I lifted the dough, parchment and all, and placed it into the loaf pan. Next, I trimmed the parchment to conform with the loaf pan. If you prefer, you can lift and place the dough without the parchment into the pan using your hands or dough scrapers.

Brush the dough with the egg wash and let the dough rise until the top middle reaches the top of the pan, about 20 minutes. Do not cover the loaf.

When ready, place the loaf in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Tent with foil if the top begins to get a little too dark. Remove the loaf from the oven and de-pan onto a wire rack. If the sides of the loaf seem a little fragile/soft, place the loaf without the pan back into the oven for about 3 to five minutes to firm up the sides. Cool the loaf on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before slicing.

I love that you did bread - so on brand for you :) It looks absolutely wonderful. I don't think I've ever had strawberry and lime together, but I love strawberry and lemon, so I'm sure I would like it too.

Hi Karen. I’m in the process of making this gorgeous bread now. My question is about the jam. It’s been in the refrigerator a couple of hours but it still seems quite loose and liquidity, I mashed the berries vs using an immersion blender. Should this be? It’s poyrable but not spreadable. The only think I did differently was add a teaspoon of fresh chopped mint. It tastes really good but not sure if it’s to loose to spread on the bread. Thoughts?